Demigod Games 13
Demigod Games Chapter 13 HunterofArtemis12 ''' '''Percy POV I don't usually like to admit when I'm feeling beat down. I try to be nonchalent about it, keep my confidence for Annabeth. But this time? I was seriously beginning to reconsider my plan. How could I ever keep Annabeth safe in this hell hole? We trudged along for what felt like hours. I was so hungry. Food... A hamburger appeared up ahead and I sprinted for it. The gods hate me. It's a rock. The sun was shining over our heads, but something told me that wouldn't be there for long. It was strange, but I felt like something was coming...and I wasn't sure what. I kept glancing at Annabeth, wondering if she noticed but she just walked along, her piercing grey eyes staring straight ahead as she slapped branches out of her way. Once she tripped over a root, but like the night in shining armor I grabbed her arm and she slid the opposite direction and hit her head. So much for that heroic act... Marcus growled some where behind us. "What's the matter?" I asked, turning to face him. I wasn't all that suspicious of him betraying us, he did save our lives. But...he also used us as live bait for an immortal goddess. His narrow face looked a bit nerveous. His eyes darted around quickly, and he kept scratching the back of his neck with shaky fingers. "I sense trouble," He admitted. "Like...a thousand pairs of eyes are spying on me." I hated to agree with him but I just nodded. All the hairs on my arms prickled like they knew something was up. Annabeth shoved some strands of hair behind her ear. "I feel like we're being watched too," She said uneasily. I blinked uncertainly. That was not what I was feeling at all. ''My instincts told me nature was about to work it's magic...and soon. But Wolf Boy- er Marcus, and Annabeth both thought we were being...spied on? I glanced around then noticed that we were coming to the brink of a cliff. "Should we...go around?" I asked aloud. The cliff was narrow and rocky. If we slipped going down, who knows where we would go? I knew from watching the Demigod Games on TV at the Reaping Square that sometimes the game-makers laid holes and traps for contestants to fall in. And when they did, they just...dissapeared. Marcus narrowed his eyes at the ledge. He said nothing for a long time. "Around," He finally nodded. "Around is...safer." Annabeth crept forward and knelt by the side. "There is a path going towards the lake. We can find shelter there and then make a plan." She tilted her head strategetically. "We go around. Into the woods and circle back around." Marcus said with an edge to his voice. Something told me my traveling companions were about to have an argument. Annabeth sat up and faced Marcus with an exasperated look on her face. She had that ''did-you-just-veto-my-plan ''look on her face. "If we go ''around ''we'll get lost in the woods. Or worse...they'll let out the Snake Monkeys and we'll be poked at then poisioned to death." I stopped listening and felt an uneasy twitch on my back. Something ''was ''watching us. Or...someone. I turned and glanced behind us, but the ground was empty. Just us and the trees...and as I'd learned from before the tree's couldn't hide a full grown person. "...But you think I wouldn't protect us! How stupid is that? If you're mocking my fighting skills after I took out both you and Percy-" "I am not saying you wouldn't protect us in the woods," Annabeth was saying icily. "You never watched the Games on TV did you? You never saw the horrors that I saw as I watched those tributes ''die ''in this ''exact terrain." '' I got both sides of the argument. Annabeth had seen what happened to people who wandered into the dark part of the woods. But if we went down the cliff...we could fall and...and then...and then nothing. I shifted my feet. I didn't dare voice what I wanted to do outloud. I figured going to the woods was way better than falling but if Annabeth ever heard that she'd kill me then kill someone else so she could bring me back and kill me again. Marcus scowled. "So I grew up with my mom, I never saw the Games. I was foolish to come down here and volunteer. I thought...I thought I could win and take the pride back to my mom and she would finally be ''proud of me. ''We can't go into that cliff...I'll slip." His voice wavered for a second but he continued. "We go to the forest...the ''brave ''way." "There is a third option," A calm voice said above us. I mentally cursed myself for not being lookout then looked up to see Jason hovering above us on the winds and Reyna on a pegasus. ''Lord? ''It's voice echoed in my mind. I wasn't surprised, I was able to talk to horses easily. And I guess pegasus were horses too. ''Just wait for my signal, ''I whispered to it in my mind. Then I realized I didn't need to whisper, no one could hear my mental conversation. The pegasus nodded and thought into my head: ''I'm Scipio...and I am at your service master. '' That made me smile a little bit. Jason narrowed his bloodshot eyes. I figured he would have been crying for awhile now. "You can all die and I win the Games," He snarled. Reyna patted Scipios head and leveled her sword in my direction. Annabeth cracked her knuckles. "Help me out here Seaweed Brain," She muttered. I moved towards her watching Jason's sword as he bellowed at Marcus for being a traitor. Reyna's eyes never left me. I shifted my hands into a platform and bent down. Annabeth gave Reyna a coy smile then shouted a 'thanks' at me as she took a running start. By the time she hit my hands she had reached maximum capacity and leaped forward high enough to latch onto Reyna's waist. They nearly tumbled backwards into the void but Reyna strengthened her footing on Scipio. At that moment Marcus let out a guttural scream as Jason slammed his head against a cliff, I could hear bones cracking from here. Annabeth lurched above my head while Reyna struggled to push her overboard. Who was I supposed to save? Annabeth who I volunteered for originally? I kne somehow she would be angry at me if I chose her while our ally suffered a long brutal death. I sprinted for Marcus. "SHE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF ''YOU!" Jason bellowed and gripped Marcus's neck with pale bloody fingers. "I will make your death slow," Jason promised. "It's less than you deserve." "Actually," I interrupted from behind. "It's my fault your girlfriend is dead." I smirked, and that scared me. Because it was almost like I was taunting Jason after his loss, and that felt like something the Capitol would do. All the bullies that were ever mean to me. I didn't want to be one of them. But then again, any tributes that came out Victor where never the same. The Games change you, it's not usually in a good way. Was it already transforming me? Jason flicks his wrist and with a sudden crack, Marcus's neck cracks. He's crying, but I take that as a good sign. He isn't dead yet. Jason kicks him backwards with an allstar soccer kick then with deadly accuracy turns and launches a hidden dagger straight at my chest. He does it so swiftly, I'm taken by surprise. I barely have enough time to flatten myself the ground, grit and dirt stinging my cheek from the impact. I feel the top of my head, and to my surprise my pal Jason has just given me a free haircut. Jason and I are spared the stand off when I hear Annabeth screech in terror. I glance up in horror, imagination running all kinds of terrible scenes through my mind. Jason could have killed me while I stood staring at Annabeth unmoving and mouth agape in panic. Her falling body through the sky, breaking air barriers. The shriek escaping from her lips, and her blonde hair flying upward. Reyna staring down at her from Scipio with a triumphant cold gleam in her eyes. But he didn't kill me. And I know why. Jason was gone. Suddenly, Annabeth's frantic yell was abrutly cut off. Jason, the only one who could naturally fly, set her down on the side of the cliff then looked up with unemotional eyes. "I don't want that to happen..." He chokes out. He stares at Annabeth for a moment, a moment too long. I sense Reyna getting tense. She knows she's about to lose her ally, not to us but this is the moment she's been waiting for. Wait for the mighty son of Jupiter to turn his back then slaughter him. She's drawn a bow and arrow, the tip is pointed directly at Jason's back. He whispers something into Annabeth's ear. She nods and the blonde demigod sighs like he's content. I open my mouth in warning, I have to say something. He saved my Annabeth. I'll let him go. Then, another turn of events. Flash. A collision. Marcus is slamming into Reyna, he must have had to jump far to reach her. The bow flies from her hands, lands in the dirt, barely missing the edge. The two tributes however, aren't as lucky. I find myself running for the edge, grasping out for empty air. They're gone. Just like that. And I've finally figured it out. The Capitol makes us like this. We are just a piece in their games. I kill the hydra. The career tries to kill me. Thalia kills Hazel. Frank tries to kill Thalia. It's an endless cycle. And there is ''no way out. '' '' '' [[Demigod Games 14|Next Chapter ----------->>>>>>>>>>>]] Category:Fanfiction Category:Collaborations Category:HunterofArtemis12 Category:Demigod Games